


As Advertised Online, or Baby Fever

by imaginedandreal



Series: The Virtch and Moir Fluff Fix [1]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: F/M, Fluff, extra ultra fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-05-03
Packaged: 2019-05-01 11:51:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14519925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginedandreal/pseuds/imaginedandreal
Summary: Six months post-Pch 2018. Our favorite business partners (who aren’t out romantically yet) have been asked to shoot an ad for baby food. Because they’re good at interacting with children and have “that familial vibe.”Inspired by that one photo of Tessa holding that ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS baby girl in the pale gray-striped bow (I have no idea where it’s from, but it’s the one where Tessa’s sitting by a bookcase holding the baby).





	As Advertised Online, or Baby Fever

**Author's Note:**

> The author is not responsible for the amount of tooth damage that results from all this sugary fluff. Book dentist appointments in advance, please ;)

Tessa happens to glance at Scott the moment that their editor and the mother of the baby in question approach them. It’s the mother, obviously, who’s carrying the baby. It’s just an ordinary little girl, and okay, she’s maybe even cuter than most babies, but Scott looks quite like it’s his _own_ child being brought to him. He’s already beaming at the chubby creature, and his eyes have gone very, _very_ soft and kind. And so Tessa can’t help but smile herself. She is one of the few people in the world who truly knows how much Scott adores children of all ages – and they him. Babies, toddlers, and kids all flock to him like baby ducklings. He is both a friend to them and a sort of father figure, Tessa thinks, remembering too how good he is with his brothers’ children.

But the baby’s mother, strangely, or maybe not so strangely, is matching Scott grin for grin. She must also sense the “daddy vibes,” as Danny Moir teasingly calls them.

“Tessa, Scott! It’s _so_ amazing, such an honor that you guys agreed to do this ad,” the mom gushes, meanwhile. The editor looks on at them, looking for a moment as if he would roll his eyes, but then excusing himself to go work on the set-up along with the photographer and the rest of the staff.

“My name’s Nora,” the mom continues. “And this little one here is Ollie, my daughter. She’s six months old.”

Baby Ollie is looking from Scott to Tessa, examining them curiously. Scott smiles at the child.

“Nice to meet you,” he says, reaching out to gently tickle Ollie under the chin. The little girl squirms happily and bursts out with giggles. The sound tugs at Tessa’s heartstrings – and that’s a person that had never seen herself being obsessed with babies.

But Tessa doesn’t want to be outdone by Daddy Vibes over there, so she finds herself taking Ollie’s hand. “Hello, Ollie,” she tries.

Five tiny fingers grip two of hers, and bright pale blue eyes fix themselves on Tessa’s. There is that tug on her heart again. “Aren’t you a little cutie?” Tessa hears herself say, out of the blue.

She is so aware of Scott’s smile on her as she introduces herself to Ollie. Nora is the heart-eyes emoji personified, looking on at them too.

“Guys, I’m really sorry to leave you, but I have to go to a meeting at work,” she says, with a small apologetic grimace. “Really, I meant to stay here, but they just called me as I had pulled up here in the studio. But you guys won’t miss me. Ollie is a friendly baby, and she’s not usually finicky with strangers.”

Tessa listens, but Scott uh-huhs automatically, his attention engrossed in playing peekaboo with Ollie, and making her wriggle around with laughter in Nora’s arms.  
The editor raises his head their way. “There’s a coach who works with infant and toddler actors coming in, for supervision,” he adds. “They will be fine, won’t you, folks?”

“Sure we will!” Tessa replies, voice bright, but mind full of hesitation. Scott is still totally busy with the child, in his element. She’s not so sure if she would be, though. Not because she doesn’t like Ollie herself – it’s just that she hasn’t interacted with babies as much as Scott has.

Nora tells them goodbye and gently deposits Ollie into Scott’s arms. Unexpectedly, the little girl’s face puckers with distress. She reaches towards her mother. Nora looks genuinely sorry, but steps further away, after a few kisses to her child. And then she’s out of the room.

Ollie is starting to whimper, and Tessa’s heart sinks. Spending time with someone else’s child, in front of cameras, no less, will be tough, if not impossible, given how little this child is, and the fact that she’s clearly still very attached to her mother. And she, Tessa, has no idea how to comfort the poor thing. At this point, Ollie has begun to cry in earnest. The editor is glancing exasperatedly towards the door, as if willing for the child-actor coach to arrive faster and take the reins.

“Oh, sweetie,” Scott croons, then, cuddling the little girl close and rocking her slightly. “Why is my little Ollie crying? It’s okay, sweetie, it’s okay. Don’t worry – Mommy will come back soon. Yes, she will – ooh, look at this! Look what a pretty medal! Isn’t that shiny?”

Tessa is just standing there, staring. It’s all she can do: marvel at how Scott, like a magician, is calming the little girl so smoothly and nonchalantly. Already, Ollie’s cries are quieting into hiccups, as Scott dangles his gold medal in front of her to grasp at. Finally, the child is – miraculously – smiling again, holding the medal in a tight little fist. Scott looks a little proud of himself, as he babbles to her.

But it’s not even that which amazes Tessa. It’s how quickly Scott gets into the role of dad (fake dad, but still). Not five minutes in a baby’s presence, and it’s all ‘sweetie’ and ‘ _my_ little Ollie’?

Shaking her head a bit, but affectionately, Tessa walks over to them. “Now let the fake temporary mom bond a bit, Daddy Vibes,” she jokes.

Ollie, by this point, is her cheerful little self. She is trying to chew on the medal that is now around her neck (“No, Ollie, you can’t do that, sorry, baby,” from Scott, and Ollie reluctantly lets go).

“May I – may I try holding her?” Tessa doesn’t really expect herself to ask the question, but she does. She suspects that it surprises her because seeing Scott handle Ollie like an experienced parent, or at least, babysitter, looks… _natural_.

Scott smiles, says “Sure!” and passes Ollie to her. The child is looking at her, studying this strange woman who is not her mom, yet she shows no more signs of being upset. Tessa has to admit that there is something easy and comfortable about holding Ollie’s warm little body close and hearing her whispery breaths. She rather likes how trustfully the little girl is grasping onto her shoulders with chubby hands.

Scott is looking at her, again _._ Now _that_ Tessa finds a bit unnerving. His eyes are radiating tenderness.

_Stop it, Virtue. One baby in your arms and you’re mush? You’re a serious adult woman who doesn’t do the wishy-washy stuff. That’s more like Scott, anyway._

An awkward cough from the editor snaps them both to reality. “You folks ready?”

 

“Right, so here’s the deal on the ad,” the editor begins, once the three of them are sitting in front of him. “We’re advertising baby food here, as you already know, and we’re trying to appeal to the ordinary mom” – he glances at Tessa, still holding Ollie – “or dad.” His eyes move to Scott, who is _beaming_ at Tessa and Ollie. “This is a photo shoot, rather than a video one, which we thought will be easier. Now,” the editor concludes, clapping his hands together, “we need you two to kind of really get into this mindset of…being parents. For the next hour or two, Mollie here –”

“Ollie,” Scott corrects him, frowning the smallest bit.

“Right, so Ollie is _your_ daughter.” Tessa suppresses the urge to give a nervous laugh. There is something in the way Scott’s smile gets positively dreamlike when he hears the editor say ‘your daughter.’ Jesus, it’s not like they have been trying for a baby, or even planning for one. As a matter of fact, they are not even engaged, and not publically dating (privately is a different matter).

But Tessa makes up her mind. Ollie is her daughter, for now? Fine, whatever, she could live with that. She has played so many roles in her life, dancing on ice, and this is just another one. The role of _mother_. Off the rink. With the man she loves starring as their pretend baby’s father.

 _Well_ , she thinks, fighting off a smirk, _this role might just be the most interesting_.

The editor runs over some details, sitting next to them as the make-up artist touches them up.

Then, in a flash, pun intended, they find themselves standing in front of the camera, with Ollie.

“Now, you guys were a relatively happy family, before finding this brand,” the editor begins, gesturing to the camera guy. The latter snaps a couple of photographs.

Tessa looks at the editor. “What do you mean, a _relatively_ happy family?” Her arms are getting somewhat tired, unused to holding a baby for a long time, but that’s just as well, because Ollie is stretching her arms towards Scott, who takes her without question and gives her a soft kiss on the forehead.

_Stupid heart, stop skipping…_

“Well…you folks – that is, parents – have everything except the perfect food for your baby. Just like our potential clients. And you have found our brand here” – the editor indicates the stand with a close-up of the baby food jars. The poster says _Munchies Baby Mix_ in a cutesy colorful font. “Now, your kid is totally happy, and you are totally happy because she is happy, and everything is sunshine and rainbows. Got it?”

Scott actually rolls his eyes at that. “Look, why would you invite us if you have no clear _concept_ of the ad?” he asks, but not with too much frustration. It’s smoothed away by the action of bouncing Ollie in his arms.

“There’s only one concept – ‘Thank you, Munchies Baby Mix, for our happy baby!’”

Scott shrugs, and it makes Tessa laugh.

But the editor is looking at them expectantly. “You folks…could you maybe stand in a more, uh, _familial_ way? Scott, come on, hug Tessa over there, you love her!”

Scott’s eyes go wide, and he throws Tessa a glance. Her heart beats wildly. Oh God, after all the pains they took to be discrete (and failures at that), even the stupid editor can sense that they’re more than ‘business partners.’

The editor, though, has the grace to look embarrassed, probably feeling that he blurted out something uncalled for. “I meant, _as if_ you love her…you see, couples who have babies usually love each other.” Even Ollie cooes, like she wants to agree.

 _Iron logic, that,_ thinks Tessa and scoots closer to Scott, so they stand with an air of blissed-out new parents.

“Wonderful! Keep up the smiling, folks!” The editor is all cheer, while they flash their best grins into the camera. Scott is tickling Ollie again, so she giggles over and over, swinging her little limbs at him and at Tessa. The sound is pure innocent joy, and Tessa is stunned at how happy it makes her to hear it. How _normal_ it feels to stand next to Scott and hear the laughter of a baby. Her cheeks actually ache, but it’s not from the deliberate smiling at the camera. Her smile could not be more genuine, just like Scott’s.

“Okay, that was great, now why don’t we take a five minute break? Then we can try something different.”

Scott grins and winks at Tessa, mouthing, “Good work, T.” She feels like playing around and bantering, all of a sudden.

“I’ll go to the men’s for a second,” Scott tells her, and she accepts Ollie into her embrace, eagerly now.

“Okay, then I will hold Marina Moir for you,” she replies, grinning like a troublemaker.

Scott’s gape at her is priceless. It’s all horrified amusement. “Did you say _Marina_ Moir?”

Tessa shoots him a cheeky glance. “Yeah, why not? Since we have to play her parents, we have to pretend like we named her, too. Do you want to leave this little sweetie nameless? Or you don’t like the name Marina? Ollie, sweetie, how’s _Ma-ri-na_ sound?”

Ollie frowns adorably, and gives a little grumpy coo. Tessa can see that she, tiny though she might be, does not like how the name sounds. She clearly has strong opinions in her six month-old mind.

“See, that’s my daughter! We don’t need any Marinas ‘round here! Right, baby? That’s a daddy’s girl all the way,” Scott rejoices, planting another kiss on Ollie’s cheek. The little girl chirps in delight.

Tessa’s cheeks feel warm now, for some bizarre reason. “Oh, go where you were planning to, Daddy Vibes,” she says softly. But she is smiling all the same.

 

After break, Scott and Tessa pose for more photographs, taking turns holding Ollie. Both are now wearing their recent gold medals. Scott is holding Ollie out towards Tessa in one, and she herself is holding a jar of the baby food, miming the act of feeding ‘their’ child.

“The slogan will be: ‘Munchies Baby Mix – a feast for your little one that’s worthy of gold!’”

To reinforce that, the editor makes sure that their medals are shining prominently in the next dozen or so of the photos that they take.

The shoot is just about done, and then Nora comes back for Ollie. Tessa can’t help but feel a pang of disappointment at the adorable baby’s near departure.

 _Christ, can you get a grip already?_ She scolds herself. _This isn’t your baby. You’re not Ollie’s mother. It won’t kill you to say goodbye to her._

Kill her, no, but it does sort of sting for a confusing reason. Well, if Tessa is a bit sad that their little game at ‘parents and baby’ is over, beside her, Scott looks absolutely crestfallen. He hands Ollie obediently to her mom, but not before stroking her downy head gently – she has fallen asleep on his shoulder, clearly tired after the long shoot.

“How did my baby behave, guys? Was she good?” asks Nora, giving her little girl a smacking kiss.

“Oh, she was an angel,” Tessa assures the woman, smiling at Ollie. “We had so much fun, didn’t we, Ollie?” That produces a big, gummy smile from the child.

Scott is quieter than he has been until now. Tessa feels slightly sorry for him, but then again, maybe he shouldn’t have gotten so attached to someone else’s child. Yet, he manages to flash Ollie a grin, gently disentangling her chubby fist that has gripped the ribbon of his medal, and is trying to pull him towards her.

“You should bring her to learn skating with us when she is older, Nora,” he jokes.

 _But maybe by that point, we may have children of our own,_ Tessa thinks involuntarily. The idea makes her shiver in some strange excitement.

She decides not to dwell on that train of thought by blurting out, “Oh, tell us – does Ollie stand for anything? It’s a cute name.”

“It’s short for Olympia. My husband and I named her Olympia Goldie. She was born the day after you two won your gold,” Nora states proudly, all happiness at her and her husband’s creativity.

“Wow,” Tessa says softly. “That’s pretty,” she smiles at Nora. She is flattered that someone loves their skating enough to name a child after their trophy.

Scott chuckles approvingly. “You guys sure are big fans, eh?”

“Isn’t it a bit obvious?” Nora laughs, and they join in.

Something dawns on Tessa. “That expert that you said works with baby actors for ads – she never made it here, did she?”  
The editor blinks, as if he only just remembered it himself. “I completely forgot about her. But I gotta say –” he gives Scott (who is _still_ baby-talking to Ollie) a sly glance. “You two folks managed the little tyke just fine!”

Tessa can’t help but agree with that.

 

Nora has thanked them profusely and left, Ollie in tow. “Say bye-bye, Ollie!” she has prompted her daughter. The little girl was cooing something like a farewell to Tessa and Scott, assisted by her mom in waving her tiny hand.

Tessa waves back, realizing that her eyes feel watery.

Scott is blowing the child kisses.

And, the two are gone. The shoot is done.

 

“Adorable kiddo, that Ollie…” Scott says, in the car on their way home. Tessa mhmms, staring out of the window. Today has been an experience indeed.

“Although her name…Jesus. Olympia is pretty enough, but _Goldie_? That’s a name you give a puppy, not a human child,” she remarks, earning Scott’s laugh.

“True. It’s definitely not your average Jane or Mary.” He takes his eyes off the road for a second to smirk at her. “But still better than Tallulah.”

Tessa smacks him on the thigh, not caring that he’s driving. “God, Scott, will you ever let go of that ‘Tallulah’ crap? I meant that as a _joke_!” But she is laughing at their little inside joke.

Scott is laughing along. “Relax, T. Of course I know that you’d love our child too much to just do that to her.” Abruptly, his laughing stops, like he is hit by what he just said.

“You’re saying that like I want to have kids with you, Scott Moir.” Tessa’s voice grows playful. She unbuckles her belt and faces him.

“Do you not want that, Tessa Virtue?” His eyes have that spark of gentleness mixed with mischief. He reaches to squeeze her hand.

“Practicing will be just fine for now. We have all the time in our hands,” she murmurs as a reply, leaning to close the distance between them.

 

 


End file.
